2019’s Best VPNs in Canada: The Cheapest & Fastest Service Providers

ExpressVPN is the best choice for keeping your online travels undercover while visiting or living in Canada.

Canada is a prosperous place, with a thriving economy, high standards of life, significant acquisition power, and vast physical resources. It also has excellent, friendly people and some of the fastest Internet connections available in the world.

Whether you want privacy, security, anonymity, or accessibility to the endless supply of streaming sites, news pages, torrenting services and millions of other positive things on the Internet, VPNs are the right tool for you.

Now, how would you know which VPN client to choose among the thousands of options obtainable? That is why we are here!

The following are the best four VPN services to use in Canada:

The Leaders Table

Tightening the rope

The Canadian government, worried about national security and, more specifically, terrorism, is stretching the strings and increasing security measures for protecting what it values: the wellbeing of their people.

The thing is that, while some of these laws have been effective in the fulfillment of their objectives for which the authorities created them, other threaten to invade the netizens’ privacy while browsing the web in Canada, cultivating some disappointment in the process.

What do some of these laws say? Well, for starters, Internet Service Providers (ISPs) need to keep logs of their users’ traffic and metadata because of government’s orders.

To keep the government and your Canadian ISP to be able to see every move you take on the Internet, a VPN is your most loyal ally. These are tools made for encrypting your Internet traffic, so it is off-limits to every third-party online.

Besides enhancing your privacy and anonymity by hiding your IP address and letting you use a borrowed one, VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) have tons of other features and characteristics that make them desirable under the current scope of Canadian cyber-reality.

In the present text, we will guide you through all you need to know before and after you acquire the most suitable VPN provider, taking into account your needs, requirements, and, of course, your budget.

What are VPNs?

By now, most Internet users know many things about Virtual Private Networks. For those of you that have been living under a rock for the last few years, VPNs are encryption measures that can help users increase their privacy and anonymity while browsing the web.

In Canada, for example, this comes in handy, because users often suffer because of the government data retention laws that make Internet Service Providers keep logs of all their traffic, crucial information and browsing history.

VPNs take your traffic, your data, personal information, IP address, browsing history and patterns and encrypt them all, sending them through virtual, computer-generated tunnels that will protect everything from the prying eyes of the government, hackers, malware, viruses, and other threats and unwanted agents lurking around on the web.

By implementing a VPN, the government or your Internet Service Provider will not be able to spy on you when you navigate the web. Most clients will allow you to connect several devices at the same time under the same account so that you can protect your traffic on your computer, laptop, smartphone, tablet, or virtually anything.

You can use VPNs for all kinds of purposes: to establish a secure environment for data sharing, to protect your privacy from the Canadian government, to bypass censorship at school or work, to safeguard your connection and digital assets while connecting to a public Wi-Fi, and many more things.

However, what makes it so accessible in Canada and the world, in general, is the VPNs’ ability to unblock geographically restricted content all over the world. Nearly all kinds of websites, pages, internet services streaming hubs and channels are intended for residents of the country, so, for example, a Canadian citizen that wants to enjoy the BBC iPlayer will not be able to do it because it is geographically restricted for people in the UK.

Yet, VPN providers can give you the opportunity to watch the BBC iPlayer and almost any show or service you want to access from Canada. By hiding your IP address and letting you choose where you want to connect, thousands of entertainment hours will become available for you.

You can also protect your equipment from being the target of hackers, data theft, viruses, malware, ransomware, DDoS attacks, and other hazards. VPNs can help you get a significantly better online gaming experience and safe torrenting, two dangerous activities in Canada.

Read a more in-depth article about what is a VPN and how does it enhance online privacy and security.

Why should you get a VPN?

If you browse the web anonymously, hackers will have a considerably harder time tracking you. They can steal basic stuff from you, ranging from personal information such as username and passwords to your credit card number.

You should use them because they increase your privacy, too. If you don’t want anyone to be able to see what you visit on the web, then turn on your VPN: you will keep your Internet Service Provider or the government away from your traffic.

Canada is an excellent country, but many people complain about the lack of entertainment options on the TV or the Internet. For this, VPNs are splendid, because they allow users like you, bored with the same shows, to unblock content overseas restricted to citizens of specific nations.

If you are in Canada, and want to watch Hotstar, Star Sports, Canal+, American Netflix, NBA, MLB, NFL, the HBO package, RAI, BBC, Sky Sports, Fuji TV, or any channel available online, all you need to do is hire the services of a VPN to help you unblock millions of sites.

Canada is known to meddle in the privacy of its citizens, so you will benefit from hiring a quality VPN client that keeps no logs of your traffic.

Assessing the legality of VPN in Canada

Many people interpret the data retention laws imposed by the government as if the VPN technology is not allowed in the country. You would think that if the authorities want to be able to see your traffic, they will not permit the use of Virtual Private Networks since they can hide your online interactions from them.

However, as of this writing, the use of VPN is perfectly legal in Canada. However, you need to take into account the fact that there is a current six-month data retention law for all ISPs and VPN services in the country.

If you want to get the best out of your VPN client and browse the web in complete anonymity, then you should hire the services of a VPN provider that is not in Canada. Otherwise, it will retain all of your data and traffic for the next six months.

Of course, some pages are vocal about their rejection of VPN and reflect it on their terms of service, in which case the maximum penalty against you would deny you the mentioned service.

In-Depth Reviews of VPNs:

1. ExpressVPN

One of the top VPN providers in planet Earth, ExpressVPN is also highly-regarded in Canada, which is a huge market given the need of the population to use encryption methods to protect their privacy and to unblock content from all over the world.

Users can try some of the best ExpressVPN’s features, such as a useful killswitch, AES 256-bit encryption, DNS leak protection and a fantastic customer service for free for a month, in the form of a guaranteed 30-day refund if you don’t like them.

While expensive, ExpressVPN offers privacy, security, anonymity, and accessibility with the opportunity to connect with 148 cities in 94 countries. Also, it has more than 1700 servers available. It also offers the most efficient customer service in the market, with a live chat feature that has an ever-ready staff to solve your possible issues or needs.

Performance

ExpressVPN is one of the fastest VPN service providers in the market. It has a vast network that surpasses the 1700 global VPN servers, all optimized for quick connections.

This marvelous VPN client has no limits when it comes to bandwidth, and throttling, making it perfect for online streaming, be it movies, live games, TV series, or any other shows or channels.

ExpressVPN bases its operations on the British Virgin Islands, but you can choose to connect to one of the 148 cities in which this provider has servers, in a total of 94 countries.

Privacy

This VPN provider is in the British Virgin Islands, where governmental authorities are permissive, and there are no annoying laws forcing Internet Service Providers and VPNs to retain users’ data.

ExpressVPN implements arguably the most reliable security system that a VPN can use, the AES 256-bit encryption. Additionally, it has DNS/IPv6 leak protection to avoid any accidents involving your privacy.

The kill switch and the split tunneling features can also enhance your privacy and protection in your online ventures. No hacker, marketers, advertisers, or your ISP will track you on the web. Not even the Canadian government.

Features

ExpressVPN is perfect for streaming and torrenting with its high-speed performance, ultra-secure encryption protocols, and ease of use. You can instantly install and setup the app.

Also, it has a fantastic customer service, with live operators ready to take on your calls, emails or even instant messages 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Communicating with the ExpressVPN staff will only take you a few seconds.

It has a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can try its services before actually spending a dollar. But the most exciting feature is its ability to let you unblock several streaming sites or web pages around the world while being in Canada: with ExpressVPN, you will have access to 1700 servers, 148 cities, and 94 countries.

Support

ExpressVPN customer service is not just ‘good’ or ‘great.’ It is in the conversation as the absolute best in the business of VPN, serving as a tool for users to communicate their issues or problems at any moment of the day.

If you don’t know how to install or use ExpressVPN on your device, the client provides you with setup tutorials, so you don’t miss any time. Also, if you have problems with your connection or unblocking stuff on the web, there are even troubleshooting guides at your disposal.

There are three ways for you to get in touch with ExpressVPN customer support staff: by writing a contact form (the average time of response is a couple of hours), writing an email to support@expressvpn.com, which can also take a few hours, and use the live chat feature, with an instant response.

Value

ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive VPN service providers in the market, but this happens when you find a quality product on the market. You have to pay for good stuff!

For Canada, and all corners in the world, ExpressVPN monthly plan is $12.95, but you can save 49% and pay $6.67 per month for the 15-month option, which includes the first 90 days for free! If you acquire the six-month package, the cost is $59.95, or equal to $9.99 per month.

The best thing of ExpressVPN is that all plans come with a 30-day money-back guarantee, which means you can try the client’s features and benefits for a month before deciding on establishing a long-term relationship.

Pros

ExpressVPN helps you access and unblock Hulu, all Netflix regions, the BBC iPlayer, and much more interesting online content while you are in Canada.

Since it reaches speeds of over 60 Mbps, it is suitable for gaming and torrenting.

Its 30-day money back guarantee lets you try all the features for a month before deciding on buying.

Robust security measures and AES 256-bit encryption.

DNS leak protection, killswitch, and other exciting services.

Cons

ExpressVPN is one of the most expensive options in the market.

Some advanced users complain about the ultra-simplicity of ExpressVPN and want a few more options in that regard.

2. PrivateVPN

PrivateVPN has some crucial flaws when it comes to the whole picture, but all in all, it is a decent VPN provider for Canada, especially if you want to stream content in the United States of America.

One of its more attractive traits is its ability to unblock Netflix, at least the American region (the one with the most shows and options for streaming), which comes in handy for Canadian users and PrivateVPN clients.

However, keep in mind that PrivateVPN’s encryption measures, speed, and accessibility features fall short if you are expecting similar performance as that of ExpressVPN, IPVanish or PureVPN. This client is straightforward to use, perhaps a little too much, and that may be because of an overall lack of features.

A positive aspect is that PrivateVPN lets you try the offerings of their product for 30 days, with the condition of returning your investment if you find the experience unsatisfactory in any way.

Performance

PrivateVPN’s performance rates as fair, at least in Canada. Although the client does not have a lot of American countries covered, it provides servers in the United States and Canada, which is enough to unblock most of the shows, games, and other online streaming options that most Canadians want to enjoy.

This service is pretty straightforward to get, install and use on all your devices. However, there is a disappointing lack of servers available around the world, with the number not yet reaching a hundred. It can connect you with 53 countries, though.

The speeds are decent, but the most exciting fact about PrivateVPN’s performance is its ability to unblock Netflix regions around the globe. As it is well-known by now, Netflix blocked some VPN clients but hasn’t done anything to PrivateVPN.

Privacy

PrivateVPN offers decent confidentiality and anonymity to its users, but it is not extraordinary as ExpressVPN or IPVanish because it lacks some of their security features such as a killswitch, for example.

Be careful because some DNS leak tests showed that PrivateVPN might have issues on that front. However, it is the exception and not the rule, so we don’t advise against getting this provider, just obtaining another security layer or two.

They claim to have a no logging policy, but they also say that some of the information they collect may be used for some purposes. In Canada, it would be best for you if you generate no logs of any kind, so act accordingly.

Features

PrivateVPN has some features, but not as much as other top VPN alternatives for the average user. The most interesting one is that you can unblock Netflix with PrivateVPN, which you can’t do with IPVanish, for example.

This client does allow you to establish six simultaneous connections, perfect for a house with several smartphones or a small private network at work.

It works on most operating systems, it has unlimited bandwidth and server switches, and you can try the 30-day money back guarantee without any risk. You can pay by credit card, PayPal or even Bitcoin.

Support

PrivateVPN claims to have live customer support to fulfill the requirements of its community, immediate as they may be. However, the term “live” isn’t always accurate.

If you are in a rush, you better fill out the format they give you and wait for a response because the live support can be offline when you need it the most.

While the client does provide tutorials on how to solve some issues, the FAQ section and the ability to ask for help via email, it isn’t possible to talk over the phone with an agent.

Value

PrivateVPN is a decent, albeit not excellent option when it comes to VPN. However, its price is that of the top alternatives in the market, which makes it not so valuable for the money.

It does have an enticing 25% discount in the monthly plan (right now at $8.21), a 48% discount in the three-month mode ($5.63 per month) and an incredible 62% off in the yearly plan, paying a total of $54 (or $4.15 per month.)

All the prices and payments modes come with a very convenient 30-day money back guarantee, which allows users to test the features before acquiring a long-term commitment.

Pros

You can access Hulu and the American Netflix region from Canada.

It has enormous discounts on some pricing and payment plans.

Very straightforward to use and install.

It is P2P friendly.

It allows up to six connections at the same time.

Cons

It has a worrying overall lack of servers across the globe.

Some privacy and security red flags can arise because it lacks on security features.

3. CyberGhost VPN

CyberGhost is quickly rising the VPN ranks and becoming one of the most reliable options for all kinds of users. However, they still haven’t quite reached the speed levels seen in Europe or the United States for the Canadian market.

That said, it is one of the safest and most secure VPN clients that you can acquire, and their proposed discount for the yearly plan is something to consider strongly.

CyberGhost also needs to diversify their locations: they allow users to connect to 46 nations, but the vast majority of them are in Europe and North America. They have mostly forgotten about markets such as South America, Africa, and Asia.

However, the future is bright for this marvelous all-around alternative for data and traffic encryption. They invested a lot of resources to make it a more than viable choice that prioritizes customer satisfaction above anything else.

Performance

CyberGhost invested a lot in servers and infrastructure, especially in the United States and Europe, and is now one of the fastest VPN clients in the web world.

However, server congestion may have caused the service to somewhat lack in connection speeds in Canada, at least in comparison with the United States. If they can fix this issue and achieve some of the max speeds it shows in Europe in Canada, it will inevitably become more popular.

CyberGhost has a decent amount of countries with 46, but most of them are in Europe. Latin America, South America, Africa and Asia are very limited, which is something they may want to change.

Privacy

CyberGhost works many hours and invest a lot of resources to ensure that their clients have more than enough privacy and anonymity, and it mostly succeeds in that front.

They are very upfront about their privacy policy and terms, they keep no logging of their users’ activity in their browsing sessions, and they use AES 256-bit encryption for full protection.

This alternative has terrific security features such as a kill switch, the option to force traffic through its first-party DNS servers, ad blocking, anti-tracking measures, and more.

Features

Much like ExpressVPN and IPVanish, arguably the top two VPN providers for Canadian people, CyberGhost is full of exciting and useful features to improve the users’ experience.

It has robust security encryptions; a Killswitch to protect users in the event of a connection loss, DNS leak protection, ad blocking, and more, including incredible speeds in the United States and the European Union.

Experts recommend it for its privacy measures, its ability to let people stream movies, TV series, and especially live events such as sports. It is not so good for torrenting in Canada as other competitors, though.

Support

CyberGhost’s customer support service is an up-and-coming proposition. For a long time, it didn’t have the live chat option active, but now it’s running again.

However, the live chat option is usually not practical because you can’t find an agent ready to take on all your doubts and inquiries. However, the email support service is fast an efficient, answering in a short period that is often less than an hour.

What they lack in live support, at least as of yet, they more than make it up with their user-friendly attitude. Still, CyberGhost could be performing a better customer support service, and need to do that to compete with the most reliable VPN options in Canada.

Value

CyberGhost is a rising VPN client in Canada and the world, so while it is affordable, its cost isn’t low. It doesn’t reach the heights of ExpressVPN, but it is not cheap.

The monthly subscription reached the $10.99 amount, with no current discounts. You can save three monthly dollars if you decide to pay the six-month plan, which is $47.94 ($7.99 p/m).

This better than average VPN provider offers its best discount for the yearly plan: by billing you the equivalent of $4.99 per month, you can save $6 taking into account the cost of the monthly plan.

Pros

It offers excellent privacy and security protocols and features for its users.

It allows users to achieve some of the highest speeds of the market (although this isn't the case for Canada yet.)

It has, similarly to some of the top options, a 30-day money back guarantee, which serves as a month-long trial.

Killswitch and DNS leak protection.

It keeps no logs of your traffic.

It allows torrenting in Canada.

Cons

The monthly plan is a little expensive.

Its customer service could use some work and refining, although the overall approach is creative.

4. IPVanish

Competing with PureVPN and CyberGhost for the top spot when it comes to the fastest VPN clients is IPVanish, a reliable provider with a somewhat complicated design that makes it not suitable for beginners, but with tons of features that make it a preferred option for Canada.

With IPVanish, you can connect to 950 servers around the world, from 60 countries. It means that, if you are in Vancouver, Montreal, Manitoba, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, the British Columbia, or any place within the Great White North, you can watch online content, pages, and services from 60 other nations.

IPVanish has a mandatory no logging policy, designed with the intention of protecting the privacy of its users during the whole online session. It implements some of the most reliable encryption protocols known by the man and has a 7-day money back guarantee.

As a drawback, its customer service and support are lacking.

Performance

​IPVanish is one of the leading VPN options when it comes to performance. It allows its users to connect to 950 virtual servers, with the ability to reach the pages and services of more than 60 countries.

Also, IPVanish is competing for the title of the fastest VPN client in the online market, having the capability and the global infrastructure to reach 74 Mbps of connection speed.

IPVanish implements robust encryption protocols to maintain the users’ data well protected and safeguarded, which is another one of the primary purposes for which clients all over the world prefer this provider over others.

Privacy

With IPVanish, your privacy is a priority and will be taken care of. No third-parties, Canadian governmental institutions or authorities, or even your ISP will be able to access your traffic.

For starters, IPVanish keeps absolutely no logs of your traffic. Also, it implements AES 256-bit encryption for robust protection against hackers, government or malware when you surf the web.

Features

IPVanish has user-friendly apps for all devices in the market, although it may be difficult to use and understand at first. It is in the top three in the ranking of the world’s fastest VPN and has connectivity opportunities with more than 60 countries.

It also has unlimited bandwidth and 256-bit AES encryption, and a strict no logging policy that protects the users’ data and traffic from the prying eyes of the Canadian governmental institutions and internet service providers.

IPVanish’s technology allows clients to perform anonymous torrenting, in addition to having unlimited P2P traffic, SOCKS5 web proxy and the ability to enter censored apps and websites all over the planet.

It has endless server switching and robust security measures such as OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP/IPsec.

Support

IPVanish thinks about their customers with a 24/7 support service but isn’t always 100% effective, so it pales in comparison with other top VPN alternatives in the online market.

The client does not have a live chat feature available for users. Also of note is the absence of video tutorials to help clients answer simple questions, as well.

It does have a 7-day money-back guarantee, so users can try IPVanish’s services for up to a week before deciding on whether they will acquire a monthly subscription or not.

Value

IPVanish is not known for offering unusually low costs to their customers, but it’s not much more than what you would pay for an average alternative.

It may not be the absolute best VPN for Canada, but it collects merits to be among the best.

Usually, the monthly fee that IPVanish charges its clients is $11.99, but for December, you can get a subscription for $10, saving 17% of the total amount.

Other payment options include a 46% save for the yearly subscription, paying a total of $6.49 per month. The 3-month plan costs $8.99, which represents a 25% discount.

Pros

IPVanish has excellent connection speeds, reaching 74 Mbps.

It is one of the most secure VPN clients in the market, with no logs and leakage.

It has unlimited P2P traffic and server switching.

It lets users have more than 40,000 IP addresses for enhanced anonymity and accessibility.

Cons

Setup and use may be complicated at first, as the app is not suitable for beginners.

5. PureVPN

Just behind ExpressVPN in the Canadians’ preference appears PureVPN, a quality VPN provider with impressive speeds and the ability to connect people with servers in more than 120 countries of the world, which is one of the best numbers around.

Of the top VPNs in the globe, PureVPN is the one with the most IP addresses to give away to their users, with more than 80,000. That helps in the performance and speed of connection, as well as to unblock sites and services in more places. For Canadians, PureVPN represents a top-notch alternative for entering sites from the United States, Europe, Asia, or even Africa, Oceania and Latin America.

It is available on most platforms and operating systems, and it uses reliable security protocols such as AES 256-bit encryption, OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, SSTP, and IKEv2 to ensure everything is hidden. Handy security measures and features like dedicated IP addresses, a kill switch, automatic protocol selection, Wi-Fi security, NAT Firewall and DDoS protection are also available with PureVPN, but you need to be wary about checking the level of security of servers when automatically connected.

Performance

PureVPN is one of the fastest clients available for customers, with its combination of impressive infrastructure and 500 servers in 121 countries around the world.

This provider has more than 80,000 IP addresses to give its customers, ready to fulfill privacy and accessibility desires. PureVPN runs smoothly on Windows, Mac, iOS, and Android, in addition to several other devices and operating systems.

With PureVPN, customers will have unlimited data transfer and server switching, and they will be able to connect five different personal computers, smartphones, tablets and other devices at the same time.

Privacy

PureVPN is usually very responsible while handling the privacy of its users in Canada. They claim that no third-parties will have access to your data, thanks to high-security measures and protocols of all kinds. But be wary of the recent allegations of data retention made by some users.

This client implements the ever efficient AES 256-bit encryption to make sure the users’ data is protected, in addition to protocols such as OpenVPN, L2TP/IPSec, PPTP, SSTP, and IKEv2.

Features

PureVPN has interesting features. With Smart Purpose Selection, users will find streaming a lot easier and smoother, and gamers can enjoy the best DDoS protection available in the market.

The kill switch and the NAT Firewall, as well as the Wi-Fi security, represent an additional security layer for Canadian users looking to hide from the annoying government surveillance.

Other features include increased connectivity and compatibility on more than 20 devices, unlimited server switching and data transfer, split tunneling, 99.99% uptime, and full-throttle customer service for all your needs.

Support

As one of the top VPN providers available in the online world, PureVPN makes sure that their customers and clients feel not only protected but taken care of when it comes to solving their issues while using the service.

If you find yourself streaming on Christmas’ Eve or New Years’ Day, and you encounter an issue, PureVPN can help you even on the holidays, with no extra charge.

This client manages an impressive customer support policy, ready to aid clients with their ‘24/7/365 Live Chat Support.’ No matter the time or place, PureVPN will have members of its staff prepared to help you.

Value

PureVPN is not cheap. However, the provider is continually offering its clientele attractive saving opportunities to acquire the service for the long-term. These discounts often reach 70 or even 80%.

The monthly plan costs $9.95, which is right on par with the majority of VPN providers if only a little bit more expensive. However, there are significant savings on the three-year plan right now: you would pay $1.91 per month instead of $9.95 (82% off.)

Users can also save 20% on the six-month plan, paying $7.95 per every 30 days. There is also a promotion in the 5-year mode, for which users would have to provide a mere $69 total payment.

Pros

It is blazing fast, so it is perfect for streaming movies and live events such as sports matches.

It currently works with Netflix.

Excellent accessibility, with more than 80,000 IP addresses, 121 countries, and 500 servers.

It has a 7-day money back guarantee.

It accepts PayPal, Bitcoin, and many other payment methods.

Cons

It can automatically connect to not-so-secure protocols.

It is not as protective of users' privacy as some of the other top VPNs.

In conclusion…

To achieve an entirely satisfactory online experience, with the most accessibility features and enhanced privacy, anonymity, and security, the smartest decision users can take to hire a VPN service provider.

You should conduct a careful assessment of what you want to achieve with your VPN and what your budget allows to acquire the most suitable option for you.

For Canada, a country with vast resources but a government that likes to spy on what their citizens are doing online, ExpressVPN, is the most reliable choice.